Google Portico

The Google Portico online tool was created to identify the healthiest products and materials for every Google building around the world. Google buys, builds, or leases over 100,000 sq. ft. of property every week somewhere on the planet. Google evaluates all building products and materials through a rigorous screening process and uses benchmarks based on established industry standards that value product transparency and material health. Products that meet these strict criteria are available to be specified for Google design and construction projects around the world.

Elixir Environmental can help building product manufacturers navigate the Google Portico process and increase product specification opportunities. Google Portico appraises building products and materials information. This information must be entered correctly so that architects and contractors can access the building product choices and examine details of products that meet Google criteria for projects. Elixir Environmental can help product manufacturers provide the necessary documentation for the Google Portico online tool and ensure they meet the stringent requirements.

Google Healthy Materials Selection Criteria

Google product criteria is based on established standards and certifications including the Health Product Declaration (HPD), GreenScreen, and Cradle 2 Cradle, and are aligned with the LEED version 4 rating system. Google rewards transparency from manufacturers with product scores indexed according to transparency and material health, with higher levels of transparency and material health resulting in higher product scores.

Utilizing real time feedback, information submitted to Google Portico will be used to score the building product employing the material health and transparency criteria. Google's global design and construction teams will utilize the building product's score to guide their material selection process. With built-in project management capabilities such as tracking product status, requests to manufacturers, and measuring compliance against Google healthy material requirements for project teams, Portico allows manufacturers and project teams to collaborate with each other and deliver healthy and high performing buildings at scale. Elixir Environmental can help your company meet the requirements of Google Portico and increase your specification opportunities.

Three main functions which are performed in the Google Portico app: project management, product research and product information requests. Architects, spec writers, and project teams can manage a building project by defining criteria, setting goals and tracking progress. The product library is quickly growing, and today has more than 2,500 products. Products are assessed against more than 40,000 chemical hazards sourced from Healthy Building Network’s Pharos Project, allowing project teams to search and compare materials for health and environmental hazard screening and certification information. Elixir Environmental can help your company navigate the transparency documentation requirements for Google Portico.

"Google has advocated the HPD reporting standards. I applaud manufacturers who are involved in the HPD pilot and working on improving their product. The reality is that we have 80,000 chemicals in the world and we don't know about their health impact."

-Anthony Ravitz,
Google Real Estate & Workplace Services

"Google Portico has potential to leverage technology and the network effect to dramatically scale the size and number of projects able to meet the Living Building Challenge Materials Petal. We are thrilled to be aligning the Red List, Declare Label and the Living Product Challenge with Google Portico's Healthy Materials criteria in order to transform the materials industry."